I assume you've seen the hotel thread on the Hyatt forum? I wrote a lengthy review in 2019, and there are subsequent posts (some not very positive). As for not having status, Hyatt stupidly made suite and club upgrade certs freely transferrable, and there's someting called Guest of Honor, which basically gives you the same treatment a top tier elite (Globalist) would receive. These certs are sold outright in various trading groups, and for a longstanding FT member it shouldn't be difficult to obtain one in CC or by asking around (wink).

I generally agree with this sentiment. Having been to a couple hundred beach loactions in Asia, I'd say, 50% of the time our thought upon arrival was, wow, we flew 20 hours for THIS?! 30% of the time it's ok, but often not becasue of the beach, but because it's a nice hotel or local attractions. And 20% of the time, it's quite nice to amazing, but often because of a specific hotel (e.g., IC Danang, Regent PQC, Andaman/Datai Langkawi, oceanfront villa in Khao Lak) rather than the quality of the beach.